Swordsman's Eye View
by Shizuku Tsukishima749
Summary: They stop in a small port town to restock supplies, but they don't make it past the harbor before a squabble breaks out. While he waits for it to blow over, Zoro gets into a conversation with a befuddled observer about the complex dynamics between crew and captain. Nakamaship oneshot.


_A/N:_ This is just something that's been bouncing around in my head for days, so I figured I should write it. It was meant to be a little drabble thing...but obviously, it took on a mind of its own! XD

Hope you enjoy!

_Disclaimer_: I don't own One Piece. Eiichiro Oda, Funimation, and anyone else affiliated does.

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**Swordsman's Eye View**

They stop in a small port town in the lower part of the Grand Line to restock supplies, but they don't make it past the harbor.

The loud-mouthed, straw hat-wearing boy is shouting something about meat, charging ahead, but he's stopped when a red-haired girl grabs his collar and yells right back. After a minute of struggling, he stretches his arms to grab a wooden horse-pole next to the bakery and rockets himself to freedom, making a shallow crater in the ground.

Only then does he realize he accidentally took the girl with him.

Soon, the rest of the crew is upon them. A blond helps the girl up before viciously kicking the boy upside the side and head and screaming at him for almost hurting her, while the others besides a young woman with black hair, who's chuckling behind her hand, and a little reindeer, who scrambles to try to stop the others so he can examine the boy, throw in their two cents and at least one whap upside the head each for good measure.

The boy's arguing his side the whole way through, as if he doesn't even feel the blows, the only truly discernible thing he says being that he's the captain and they should let him do what he wants since they need the meat anyway.

It's a sight to see, and an onlooker whistles. "That _kid's _the great Straw Hat Luffy?! _Sheesh_! Even if he _is_ young, you'd think a crew with a captain _that_ strong would respect him a little more!"

The nineteen-year-old at his side fixes him with an honestly confused frown. "You think they don't?"

The man snaps toward him, one eyebrow raised in incredulity, mouth hanging open. He sweeps a hand out to indicate the ragtag dogpile. "Just _look_ at them! _Listen_!"

The young adult chuckles, smirking widely with arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed comfortably. When he opens them again, he's watching the still-arguing, now-wrestling group with a surprisingly fond smile on his face.

"It might look that way to an outsider," he concedes with a shrug, "but on the inside, when you're with them, it's easy to see the truth. You just have to look hard enough."

The bystander simply stares for a moment. He has no idea who this guy is, though he looks startlingly familiar and he feels a name on the tip of his tongue, but he seems to have picked up on something the man himself missed somehow. Color him intrigued. "Meaning…?"

The swordsman's grin grows, and he nods his head toward them.

"I'll admit, the captain seems like a complete idiot at first, eating ten times his body weight several times a day, laughing and smiling at things that aren't the least bit amusing, falling for things and getting into fights that'd mean death a thousand times over for anyone else. But he can also be the kindest, most selfless, and most loving person on the face of the planet, whether he's among strangers or friends. When it really matters, no matter who needs him or what the outcome might be for him, he's a regular never-say-die livewire, made up of all-suffering blows and undying loyalty and fierce determination in the face of odds that would crush ordinary men like bugs." He releases a satisfied, charmed breath of a laugh. "He's one of a kind, that's for sure."

The man stares at him. It's almost like this kid knows what it's like to be with that boy first-hand… Is he really just that good at reading people? That'd be a great skill to have. But that still doesn't answer his question. He opens his mouth to urge him on, but that doesn't seem to be necessary.

"As for the others, well…he saved them."

The man raises an eyebrow. "'Saved them'?" he repeats curiously.

He nods, motioning to each of them in turn. "The redhead was forced into slavery for eight years, and it would have kept going if he hadn't gotten them all arrested. The black-haired woman thought she'd lost the will to live before he gave her a second chance. The long-nosed man dreamed of becoming a brave warrior of the sea. The blond wanted to find the legendary All Blue. The reindeer just wanted to be a pirate all his life."

The onlooker glances from them to the man and back again. He can tell all of that just from _this_?! He's either amazing…or perhaps he just knows more than he's letting on...

"That captain gave them everything they ever wanted and so much more, and they can't thank him enough for that. They'll never be able to repay him because he's never asked for anything but their friendship in all their time together, so they do what they can." He laughs low in his throat. "They might act like this now, but if ever their captain's in trouble, they're always ready to defend him to the death, would rather die than disobey his orders, whether they agree with them or not." He throws his head back to cackle now, smiling like it's Christmas. "They've pledged their lives to their idiotic captain, and that means everything to them! They'd sooner take his place on the execution platform than betray him!" He's calmer now, settles for smiling warmly. "They love and respect him more than anyone else in the world, and they take their role as his family very seriously."

The man, for his part, is stunned speechless. Now, he's _really _thinking he knows this guy from somewhere. That shit-eating grin looks so _familiar_… And how can he _possibly _know all of this just by observing them…? It doesn't make any sense…unless—!

The young man turns toward him now, still wearing that smile while arching one eyebrow and jabbing a thumb at himself.

"As for me? I was the first to join his crew, and I'd be dead right now without him! The World Government wanted to execute me! I wouldn't leave him if my life depended on it!"

The man peers up at him, slack-jawed and just a little afraid. Holy _crap_! _That's _who this guy is! Former pirate hunter and now first mate to Monkey D. Luffy of the infamous Straw Hat Pirates, the one and only Roronoa Zoro! No _wonder _he knows the crew to that intimate extent!

"Hey, Zoro!" a voice calls from the bottom of the tangle of bodies and limbs. "A little help here?!"

The nineteen-year-old looks in that direction and all-out beams toothily. "Coming, Luffy!" He gazes at the man and offers a half-wave in parting. "Captain's calling! See you!"

He goes running, returning his captain's indignant "Zoro! Hurry up!" with a laidback chuckle and a "Yeah, yeah!"

Meanwhile, the man waits and watches the rest of the scene unfold, eager to see if what Zoro said is true.

And lo and behold, it is.

The others finally let up after another few minutes of squabbling with the first mate, getting off Luffy one by one until there's just the redhead left. She pushes herself to her knees, pulling a dirty, slightly roughed up, but nonetheless-grinning-like-an-idiot Luffy along with her.

They stand together, and she brushes some of the dirt from his clothes and precious hat while the little reindeer rushes over to look him over, the long-nosed one pulls grass and rocks from his dark hair, the blond offers to cook him a hearty lunch with the meat they find here, the black-haired woman volunteers a story while he waits, and the swordsman puts him in a headlock for an old-fashioned noogie. The boy himself is smiling blindingly, laughing raucously all the while.

His crewmates are surrounding their child-captain, are absolutely _beaming_ like they're the happiest people on Earth. _He's_ the one who gave them their lives back, the chance to fulfill their dreams. _He's_ their most important person, their most valuable treasure, and they're never letting him go. He'll have to be taken from their cold, dead, forced-yielding fingers, and the man has a feeling _no one_ would survive that.

Roronoa Zoro made some observations, and now the man has, too. They're good ones that warm his heart, as do the people they're about, and he finally walks away from the group with a small spring in his step and a tender smile on his face.

What a nice story to tell the family when he gets home tonight.

_You'll never guess who I met today…_

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_A/N: _Thanks so much for reading! Happy New Year!

Special thanks to the freaking amazing **Taisi** for semi-writing, semi-inspiring some of the lines, particularly, 'They'll never be able to repay him because he's never asked for anything but their friendship in all their time together, so they do what they can' and 'He's their most valuable treasure'! You're the best! Read her One Piece stories, guys! They're the _greatest_! They're what inspired me to start writing for this fandom!


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